IAM Magazine issue 31

Global patent warming is real, not imaginary. And while it may suit some, for many others it will cause increasing problems. At the world’s major patent offices, solutions are being sought. It could all mean that change is on the way.
Ciarán McGinleyEuropean Patent Office

Features

There has never been a better time for banks and other investors to get involved in the European innovation marketplace. The structures and the tools are there. All that is lacking is the strategy. Giancarlo MiglioriMrgoodIDEA

One of the major aims of the six-month French presidency of the European Union, which began on 1st July, is to provide fresh impetus for European innovation by securing major changes in the EU’s patent policy. Richard Yung

Products driven by new technologies are increasingly underpinned by technical standards. Companies have to understand the potential problems, as well as the opportunities, presented by this emerging issue.

Steps towards the harmonisation of patent laws and practices have been slow. A panel of leading IP professionals consider what effects the current lack of harmonisation has on patent owners and offices, and what is
needed for the situation to change. Sara-Jayne Adams

450 delegates and speakers, drawn from all corners of the world, came to the first-ever IP Business Congress in June. For two days at the Hotel Krasnapolsky in Amsterdam, they focused on the role of the chief intellectual property officer and how companies that embrace the position can enhance their bottom line and obtain other more intangible benefits. To cap the event off, there was a spectacular example of IP monetisation in action. Joff Wild

History is full of examples of markets evolving by organising with standardised approaches to sharing information and streamlining transaction processes. Will the nascent secondary patent market learn and adopt such
efforts, or remain largely a lawyer’s sandbox? Paul Henderson and Michael Pierantozzi

One of the disincentives to drilling into a patent portfolio to search out further value-enhancing opportunities is cost. However, there are ways to save significant amounts of money – something that financial modelling will help patent owners discover. J Scott Bechtel and Ray I Throckmorton

Columns

InBev’s acquisition of Anheuser-Busch is all about the US company’s portfolio of famous brands. And it is the declining value of another celebrated American brand that has helped to make it possible. Douglas R ElliottTEQ Development LLC

The IP profession has traditionally been locked out of the boardroom, so the creation of the chief intellectual property officer role is surely worth celebrating. But before we do, we should consider whether the CIPO is
the first or last step up the ladder. In fact, maybe it even involves the wrong ladder in the first place. Ulf Petrusson & Bo HeidenCentre for Intellectual Property, Gothenburg

Co-published editorialManagement report

Because intellectual property is a legal right, in the end it only has value if those that own it are ready to go to court to defend what they have. A company that is prepared to stand by and watch others infringe its patents, trademarks, copyrights or trade secrets will not be in business for long. Certainly, its shareholders will very
quickly begin to ask questions.

Co-published editorialIndustry insight

Turning IP into cash is one way to
recoup investments in its creation.
However, to do this as effectively as
possible, you need an effective
strategy and the right tools, writes
Laura Gaze, Senior Marketing
Manager with the Scientific
Business of Thomson Reuters